Creating styles in Microsoft Word 2003

You can create styles by formatting text and base a style on the formatted text. If you want a higher degree of control over style creation, you might want to consider creating styles using the New Style dialog box. By using the New Style dialog box, you can easily incorporate alignment, paragraph spacing, indents, line spacing, font colors, and many more into your style.

To create a new style using the New Style dialog box, follow the steps below:

Click the Styles and Formatting button on the Formatting toolbar to display the Styles and Formatting task pane or select Format a Styles and Formatting, and then click the New Style button from the styles and formatting task pane. The New Style dialog box appears.

In the New Style dialog box, type a name for your new style in the Name box. Think clearly when you consider names to associate with styles—the more vivid your style names are, the easier it will be for you and others to identify each style’s purpose and apply the proper style within documents.

In the Style Type list box, specify whether your style will be a paragraph, character, table, or list. (Most styles are paragraph styles)

In the Formatting section, configure your style’s properties using the Font and Size list boxes as well as the formatting, alignment, spacing, above and below spacing, and indent buttons.

When you are done configuring the formatting options, click OK. The newly created style will appear in the Styles and Formatting task pane as well as in the Style list box. You can use and modify your new styles just as if they were built-in styles. Furthermore, unlike built-in styles, custom styles are easy to delete when you no longer need them.